I got this email at work......tell me what you think

Man .... Busted. All you can do now is talk with your supervisor or who ever is in charge of facilities and try to explain to them how much it costs to charge up... Even offer to pay if you must... Don't lie and deny it. hopefully they will let you continue. Good luck.

 

He is telling you in a nice way way that he doesn't want to provide you with FREE electricity. (ie he thinks your stealing from the company)

Unless you are positive the company has a written policy that allows you to charge your car then I would abide by his wishes. You could send an email to the CEO asking about changing the policy.

Good Luck

 

Tell them its not you because you have a Toyota Prius and not a Totota Prius (lol).

 

You could also offer to pay for the electricity, if they pay .15/KWh, each charge will cost them less than .50/day.
If you gave them a $10 bill, it would cover your average 20 work day month.

You could be extra generous and offer them $20, which is likely double what it costs them.

 

Good opportunity to hit the books and study up on ways the state of Georgia is encouraging less polluting cars, less traffic, greater energy efficiency and use that information in your response. Also I'd offer to put a deposit down on electricity used and meter it carefully so you know how much it costs... Also talk to your companies PR director as well as the company head. The head of your company could take care of this problem real quick if they wanted to!

 

9G-man has a 2007 Prius. Does he have the plug-in mod? Or need to update his info to a 2012 PIP? Or does "The Man" simply assume that all Pri need to be plugged in?

 

You should ask before plugging into somone else's outlet. If it is your employer, as the personnel department to champion your cause, since they can make it policy. And offer to pay the cost of each charge.

 

Where I have worked, portable heaters were restricted, requiring approval. No one had personal TVs. Everything else you listed gobbles far less energy than a PIP.

In the early days, a lot of test equipment was left turned on 24/7/365, but that began changing a couple decades ago. More recently, justification was needed for each item not regularly turned off overnight.

 

Ditto for fire reasons our workplace does not allow to have anything electrical other than computers, things like radios and cell phones a few have (not sure if its officially allowed). Geez I hope they don't think about stopping that too. Gotta go down 4 floors just to get to coffee shop (tea/coffee pots not allowed). You could suggest they install a pay charger station.

 

If I had a PiP and the company I worked for (aka the reason why I receive paychecks every month) didn't want me to plug it in at work...I wouldn't plug it in. I wouldn't complain or elevate the issue to those higher up in the company because it might cause some ill will...Wouldn't want to be passed up for a potential promotion/pay raise just because I made a stink about a relatively small ($0.50 per day, by mitch672's estimate) issue.

And they put in the effort to actually identify the owner of the PiP so it looks like they're pretty serious about the issue.

But that's just my opinion...

 

i would forward this email to the project manager, makes sense to me.

 

Does that facilities manager also have a water conservation program? Did they close the bathrooms and water fountains?

Little minds have problems with big pictures.

 

I've seen both sides of this argument where I work.
We had a lady in my last office pop a flare topside over an electric scooter that was plugged into an outlet near an exit. SHE had a 1500W heater (that nearly started a fire one evening!) plugged in under her desk because it was always too cold for her comfort in the equipment room. She never turned it off.
While the folks in the head shed were scratching around for a solution, the owner of the scooter did the right thing. He apologized for the situation to the building manager and discontinued the practice.
Here's why the scooter dude did the right thing.
Theft is theft. If you're plugging in your car without permission from the owner of the outlet, you are a thief. Period.
As gas prices go north, and more and more people try to use plug-ins, there are companies who will be forced to use a zero-tolerance policy for all non-corporation electric use. That will mean of course NO radios...No charging your i-thingy, No office refrigerators or coffee pots. NOTHNG.
Needless to say, this would have resulted in the owner of the scooter not winning the office popularity contest had my company been forced down this road.
I know….it’s not exactly fair, but I work for a unionized company, and it’s an unfair world.


Here's what I would do: Get permission before you use the outlet.
That way....if some humor-impaired person decides to fuss about your plugged-in _____, you will be in the clear, and you will not force the folks in the front office to divert their attention from their facebook accounts to deal with you afterwards.
You never get a second chance to make a (good) first impression....just sayin.

Of course....the dynamic is a little different for very small businesses, but if I owned a small company and an employee plugged their car into one of my exterior outlets without asking about it beforehand?
They'd be looking for another job.
Stealing is stealing.
Period.

 

Do you consider using the toilets at work "stealing"? Did you get explicit permission to use the toilet at work or do you consider that a reasonable and ordinary employee benefit?

Unless there is an explicit policy prohibiting the use of electrical outlets, I think using an outlet is a reasonable and ordinary employee benefit.

 

i don't know what kinds of businesses you all are in, but at my company, even tho the squeeze has been on for the last 5 years, people plugging things in is the least of our worries. to me, it's more politics than actual cost. any progressive company will welcome this sort of activity. (and let the cold ladies have their heaters as long as they are safe.)

 

right on.

 

This sounds like a person who feels entitled to me. Are you serious? Comparing the use of a toilet to plugging in a PHEV and then justifying it as an employee benefit?????? You have got to be kidding me. Do you realize there are federal and state laws that require an employer to provide rest rooms (aka toilets).

No, you are not entitled to your employers electricity.

 

I guess I am not entitled to my employer's heating or air conditioning as well? Maybe I shouldn't turn on the lights when I am at the office.

If the employer doesn't want employees to use electrical outlets, establish a policy and lockup or remove the outlets, but don't let some facility manager make adhoc policy to discriminate against one employee.

Btw, those federal/state laws don't require those toilets to be free, just available.